Availability of MS-DOS (was: Computer Market Phases (Was: Our fine educational system (was: Login on VMS))

From: Fred Cisin <cisin_at_xenosoft.com>
Date: Wed Sep 27 20:42:55 2000

On Wed, 27 Sep 2000, Clint Wolff (VAX collector) wrote:
> MSDOS wasn't available separate from the hardware until much later.
> I remember running a copied version of DOS on a brand new '286 clone
> I built from parts purchased from Jameco. I searched high and low,
> and couldn't find MSDOS unbundled anywhere. This was about a year or
> so after the '286 was released (early '90s? I don't remember)

The gray market around here was so extensive that virtually nobody knows
that it WASN'T available! (in THEORY, you could only buy MS-DOS thorough
your OEM hardware supplier)

MS-DOS 5.00 (4/91) was the first version that was available as a MICROS~1
retail product. There is widespread speculation that the unavailability
of MS-DOS as a retail product was due to an explicit deal between MICROS~1
and IBM, that ran out in 10 years. The original PC release was 8/11/81,
so the deal was probably made a few months before release.


BTW, the 286 was in the first half of the 80s.

--
Grumpy Ol' Fred        cisin_at_xenosoft.com
Received on Wed Sep 27 2000 - 20:42:55 BST

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